Sanitation of refrigerators



Dec. 36, '41930. G. c. BACON SANITATION 0F REFRIGERATORS Filed Oct. 25, 1926 gwomtoz Patented Dec. 30, 1930- NITED vSTES.PTEIVJT ol-frlcl:y

GILBERT C. BACON', 0F TAMAQUA, PENNS'YLVANIA, .ASSIGNOB T0 DABCO CORPORA- TION', 0F WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A CORPORATION 0F DELAWARE SANITATION F REFRIGERATORS Application led 0ctober-25,.l926. Seria; No. 144,152.

This invention relates to. sanitation of refrigerators; and 1t comprises means for ald- 1ng 1n mamtammg alrefrlgerator 1n a sam- -tary condition, saidmeans including a body' 6 of coarse-grained activated carbon, bag means for holding and electrically insulating said body and a perforated container, usually of metal, forv holding the bagged .,bod of carbon; and it further com rises a 10 method of aiding maintenance of re rigerators in a sanitary condition which comprises .maintainin within said refrigerator a body of `activated carbon, said body of activated carbon being` in free] :cfontact with air and l5being held as an elect lally insulated body by a'bagcontainedinl erforated casing; all as more fully he fter set forth and as claimed, Y i As is well known onse 'old and restaurant refrigerators reaI fbeco'l'ney fouland are difficult to keepV yfodorl'es`s"' 'I and Isnitary Often there is a sort 'of uildi-iig 1 odors coming from thufoodr y." ,y composition. In a refigigeratl ',g-covection is active and distribif 'on of'odor and tastegiving volatiles is correspondingly rapid. This is objectionable, vvnot only." on 'general v principles, but because!V of contamination of ffoods. Many foods and particularly those l Vof fatty or 4oily nature, suchasbutter, readilyl -adsorb these volatiles. It is the object of the present invention to lobviate these conditions and to this end advantage is taken of-Ithe convection currents,`the atmosphere within the refrigerator being'kept sweet. by

maintaining therein a body of still more adsorbent material-activated carbon. This carbon not only rapidly takes up these odorous volatiles, but disposes of them by oxidation.' Av small mass of such carbon can be relied u on for maintaining a relatively large --re rigeratingv chamber in a sanitary condition', provided free access of'air to Athe grains' is'fpermitted.4 In the present invention,'the" body of carbon is used with special holding means 'ving such access and mamtaining the bo 'as a vertlcal column. In vsecuring this result, certain mechamcal and chemical 'diiiculties must be overcome. The 5 ordinary decolorizing carbons on the market are extremely fine in texture and are not well sultedfor the'present purposes. `In use in a refrigerator they become moist and free access of air is apt to be precluded. Excess moisture vcannot readily drain off. AIt is therefore better to use a comparatively coarse-grained carbon, say, of about l to 10 mesh. Such a carbon may be made by the process set forth and claimed in the Mumford Patent 1,286,187 'or in other ways. These carbons vare excellent conductors of electricity and their ores are charged with oxygen. They there ore tend to form electric cou les with metals and corrode the metal. o, in the present invention, I enclose the body of carbon in an'open textured bag, which not only holds the mass in shape, but precludes direct contact'with the container. This ba I hold in a'perforated container, usually 0% metal, although containers made of bakelite', vulcanized fiber, hard rubber, etc., may be used. While various metals may be used with the carbon since the bag .acts as an insulating layer, I find it best to illustration I have Avvulcanized rfiber or like material, although non-corrodible metals are best for the reason, (among others, that the containers may be readily stamped out when such metals, are used. Aluminum has the advantage that it is readily kept clean and, because of its surface coating of oxid, it does not readil form galvanic couples. The side walls 'of t e container are perforated, as shown at 42. The' bottom 4 o the container 1 is left unperforated, since lin Ordinar 4use the container is placed eithe'i` on the oor or on one of t-he shelves in the refrigerator, making perforations in the bottom 4 unnecessary. Such iagrammatically, an

wductive fabmc, such as cotton -A or. mushn.

drainage as may be necessary in a damp atmosphere is taken care of by the lateral perforations. Y A perforatedv removable top,` 3 talneml. The top 3 is shown as a screw top permits access to the interior of the con- A-frictiontop may replace the screw top, ifl'desired. Within the container is placed a cylindrical vertical'body or mass ofcarbon 6 held in a bag 5. This bag may .be made of any ordinary porous electrically non-con- While replacement or renewal of the bag of carbon is not necessary for long periods, when or hard rubber iS-usedV as the container maf terial. With copper and metals generally,

electric actions are apt to take place. -Tinned iron rusts very readilyin contact with moist, oxygen-adsorbing active carbon.

I consider it important that the carbon used possess a coarse-grained structure. Fineor pulverulent carbons, no matter what their adsorbing orabsorbing power may be,

are impracticalbecause the contaminated"airY i cannot Y circulate through. them.Y Furthermore, such carbons have the added disadvantage that, because of their ineness, refilling the ba impossible to completelyprevent the carbon tainer from coming into contact with the metal confor the reason that. it sifts through the bag.v

On the other hand, coarse carbons are marked by cleanliness, permit ready circula- Y tion of air, have a tremenduously high power of adsorbing or absorbing impuritiesv from.

i .carbons may be contained ini air, ability to. retain their adsorbingand absorbing power over long periods A relatively tting rapid coarse-meshed bag,fthereby'pe'r j" vv diffusion of the contaminated air, l

For an ordinary refrigerator'about one'- half pound of coarse-grained activated vege- .tablecarbon isa Ysuitable uantity, although any reasonable amount o puriher may be The granular lcarbon may be provided 'in bags of a size and shape suitable for replacement in the metallic or other container.

` AWhat I claim ist-- 1.- Apparatus for-.aiding in the sanitation i of refrigerators comprising "a body of Vcoarsegrained activated carbon and means for hold-v creates ymore or less dust. And when eV carhons are used, it -is virtually ing said body and preventing the formation of a galvanic couple by said carbon,- said holding means 'comprising afperforated container made of oxidfcoated aluminum and a bag` of electrically non-conductive porous material adapted to hold the carbon and prevent its contact with the walls of the containerg.'

2. Apparatus for aiding inthe sanitationl of refrigeratprs lcomprisinga body .of coarsegrained activated carbon and means for holding said body and preventing the formation of a galvanic couple by said carbon, said holding means comprising a perforated metal container and a bag of electrically non-conductive porous material' adapted to hold the carbon and prevent its contact with the walls A of Ithemetal container.

3. Apparatus for aiding in the. sanitation.

of refrigeratorswhich comprises .abody o f coarse-grained activated carbon and Ameans.4

for holding said bod vin free communica` tion-with the air insi e'the refrigerator and for, preventing the .formation Vof galvaic,

couples'by said carbon, said means comprismga'perOrated: non-metalhc container.'Y

4. Apparatus fora1d1ng 1n the samtatlon 'of :refrigerators which comprises a body of coarse-grained activated carbon 'and means with the air inside the refrigerator and for preventing the formation of galvaniccouples by said carbon, said means comprising a perforated container adapted to preventl electrical contact of said carbon with oxidiz able metals.

InA testimony aiixed'my signature. Y Y GILBERT C. BACON.

whereof, I have lier'eunto for holding said body in free communication ies d such. 

